I scored in the 80's and 90's on BoardVitals and ANCC practice exams but I failed the test. I did horrible in Policy. My diagnostic information is below. Can someone guided how I can increase my Professional Role and Policy? The questions were completely different from what I was studying.
I would appreciate any help!
thanks
Sarah
Diagnostic Information
Foundations for Advanced Practice Nursing - High
Professional Role and Policy - Low
Independent Practice Competencies - Medium
I failed also today. I kept getting upper 90's on the practice ANCC IQ test. My final score was 340. I was low on the last two. not sure what to do know. thinking of Fitzgerald or lantern. any suggestions?
I am taking it in October. Lantern is not helpful. You can try it, he has 30 day free trial. But nothing of substance. I bought Barkley home review which seems useless. The only thing helpful so far is Boardvitals.And I bought Motemrix which seems good. What are you low in? Policy or the other categories?
Professional Role and Policy - Low Independent Practice Competencies - Low
I, like you, Barkley was useless. pocket prep did not prep me. As I mentioned, I kept getting high 90's on the quizzes from pocket prep and ANCC IQ. the purple book dont belive help much. I got questions on Tegretol, pediatric reflexes, erythromycin and more than a few on dementia, but a lot of research and policy which I knew the exam was going to be heavy on policy. I will try board vitals. My score was 340, and passing is 350. so close. thank you for your recommendation on lantern.
Ok you had your pity party. Time to get back into the game.
What was useless about the study resources Barkley, Pocket prep? Please be specific. Was there anything helpful? (yeah it sounds like an essay question!)
I favor a "gradient approach". Thus, I will take my PMHNP exam on Oct 07th. To date I have used Pocket Prep (about 70% complete) and the Lantern review (70% complete), Boardvitals about 60% complete, and the ANCC study guide (I may or may not buy the review questions next week). My costs are about $500.00 on prep materials and I've put about two hours per day into study (since graduating mid July minus the month of August that I spent in Europe with my 18 year old son) and an additional hour or so daily listening to Psychopharmacology podcasts. Now should I fail my "cost/benefit" analysis will shift considerably. Thus, I will probably also invest in Barkley/Fitzgerald and God only knows what else, plus my nightly "PS4" time will go from about 90 minutes to zero and the hour per day I spend going to lunch with my wife will also be reallocated to study. If I fail it won't be because the resources I'm using have necessarily failed, rather it will be a mismatch between my effort and the task at hand. Furthermore, should I fail, I would have likely failed by and even "larger" margin in the absence of the the resources and time that I'm currently spending towards exam prep. My preceptor, a psychiatrist mentioned how he had failed USMLE (I believe level II) three times before ultimately being successful. Also Lecturio.com is another possible resource along with UWORLD.
Ok you had your pity party. Time to get back into the game.
What was useless about the study resources Barkley, Pocket prep? Please be specific. Was there anything helpful? (yeah it sounds like an essay question!)
there was not a lot of information on policies and research. the test is heavy on policies and research. purple book had some information. I guess I did not understand well the information and was not able to put it to practice on the test.
I would wager that the majority of people who fail the exam do so because of policy and research questions. This begs the questions of which review resource does the best job of focusing on this area of the exam?
I'm in my next to last semester in school and we were told the exam is changing in December 2019 to reflect what we actually learned in school (go figure). So I looked it up. Here's the info from the Fitzgerald website:
ANCC Psychiatric-Mental Health NP Certification Exam Update, Effective December 16, 2019
Q: I heard that there are upcoming changes to the ANCC Psychiatric-Mental Health NP (PMHNP) Certification Exam. What are they and how can I make sure that I am prepared to take the exam in late December?
A: The ANCC PMHNP test content will be updated on December 16, 2019. On or before December 13, 2019, the current test content outline will be in effect. The good news is that the current Fitzgerald PMHNP Certification Exam Review prepares you for both the new and current PMHNP Certification Exam. Major changes in the ANCC PMHNP exam update include shortened test time and questions, changes in content domains, and fewer questions on professional issues. Important differences between the new, updated exam and the current exam are highlighted below:
NEW, UPDATED ANCC PMHNP Exam: Effective December 16, 2019 3.5 hours to answer 175 questions (150 scored plus 25 pretest questions that are not scored).
NEW ANCC PMHNP Test Content Domains (after Dec 16)
Category : Content Domain : Number of questions : Percentage
Are FNP's and the other specialties also getting a new test? If not what were the "behind the scenes" dynamics (is such things are known or can be deduced) that caused the test reformulation? Also, it would be fascinating to know what characteristics tend to separate those who are successful on the PMHNP exam from those who are less successful. For example with the NCLEX having English as a non primary language or having been educated in a different country is correlated with a lower chance of passing on the first attempt. Perhaps, (if I don't pass next Monday) I will get an opportunity to take both test versions which may facilitate a more accurate impression with regard to exam dynamics and how each version compares to the other.
kp1791
15 Posts
Thank you NutMegg!